Integrating mechanism



' Nov. 6, 1956 Iii!! P. ZAMBONI INTEGRATING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 23, 1954- u y" fw' ATTORNEYS.

2,769,591 INTEGRATIN G MECHANISM Paul Zamboni, Zurich, Switzerland, Gyr A. G., Zug, Switzerland, Switzerland Application September 23, 1954, Serial No. 457,847 7 Claims. (Cl. 23S-61) assignor to Landis & a body corporate of The invention relates to intergrating mechanisms and more particularly to an improved pawl and ratchet construction for integrating mechanisms.

The present invention constitutes an improvement over the type of integrating mechanisms disclosed and described in the United States patent of Albin Laternser, No. 2,689,684, issued September 21, 1954.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

In certain mechanical integrating instruments serving to continuously form only the time integral of a variable quantity to be measured there is provided a rotating pawl driven at a constant velocity. The pawl is controlled through a meter which couples the pawl through a ratchet to a counter for a period of time proportional to the instantaneous value being measured. In such instruments it is common practice to control the coupling period of the pawl and ratchet by means of adjustable and stawith respect to the stationary cam whereby coupling may be effected for varying periods of time. Inasmuch as provision must be made to permit the ratchet and pawl to travel a full cycle without engaging, the maximum amount of coupling permitted by such a construction is 180 of cam travel since any greater amount of cam is proportional to the length of the coupling period manufacturers of integrating mechanisms have constantly sought ways of increasing the coupling period.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an integrating instrument of the type described in which the coupling period for the pawl and ratchet may extend over a long period and especially for more than Another object of the invention is to provide pawl and ratchet means for an integrating instrument which may be engaged and disengaged by adjustable stop means. Still another object of the invention is to provide a pivotal pawl urged into and out of engagement with a ratchet by means of adjustable stop members and provided with means for preventing coupling between the pawl and ratchet whenever there is no signiticant quantity to be measured.

Briefly, the applicants invention comprises a constantly rotating pawl carrier having a pivotable pawl mounted thereon. A pair of lugs, or projections, are provided on the pawl for engagement with adjustable stops by which periphery, the purpose 2,769,591 Patented Nov.- 6, 1956` the pawl is moved into or out of engagement with a ratchet secured to a counter. One stop is mounted so asy to be pivotable and is carried Additional adjustable means are provided which cooperate with the pivotable stop to permit the stop to be rotated to a non-actuating position whenever the circular disk is rotated to a particular range of values by the quantitymeasuring meter.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory of the invention but are not restrictive thereof.

Of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the clearances between various parts being exaggerated to show the apparatus more clearly,

Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the apparatus immediately prior to engagement between the pawl and ratchet, and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 showing the apparatus immediately prior to disengagement of the pawl from the ratchet.

Referring first to Figure 1, there is shown a pawl carrier 14 having two rigidly fixed knife edge bearings 15, is rigidly attached to a rotary shaft 11 driven through gears 12 and 13 by a synchronous motor (not shown). Knife edge bearing 15 is directly secured to the carrier 14 while knife edge bearing 16 is secured to the end of a bolt 17 carried by the carrier 14. A pawl 18 is arranged on a rocker arm carried by the carrier cross-bar 19 having two legs 20, 21. of these legs is provided with a knife edge and is pulled into contact with the knife edge bearings 15, 16 by a coil spring 22 secured to the cross-bar 19 and the bolt 17. The action of the spring is to will remain there until positively thrust to its opposite limiting position. When the pawl 18 is disengaged the bar 19 bears on point 23 of the pawl carrier 14.

certained. Leg 20 is similarly provided with a lug 24, preferably canted in a direction opposite to that of the lug 26, which serves to engage the pawl 18 whenever the lug comes into contact with the pin 25. Pin 25 is mounted on a movable lever having legs 31, 32 rigidly connected together by means of the bolts 33 and 34 and rotatably mounted on a shaft 35 secured t-o the disk 36. A coil spring 37 secured between the bolt 33 and a bolt 38 on the disk 36 holds the legs 31, 32 under slighttension and in such a direction that the lap 39 on the end of lever 32 is positioned slightly above the periphery of the circular disk 40.

The disk 40, like disk 28, is mounted so as to be manually positionable in various positions and is provided with a small scale 42 by which the position of the disk 40 with respect to a fixed point 32 may be ascertained.

e disk is also provided with a recess 41 in its outer of which will be described hereinafter. Disk 36 is provided with gear teeth about its circumference and is driven by means of a gear 44 secured to a quantity measuring meter (not shown, but which may be of the type shown in Fig. 1 of the U. S,

patent to Albert Laternser, No. 2,689,684, issued September 2l, 1954). As the gear 44 rotates the disk 36 in a clockwise direction in accordance with the instantaneous value of the quantity to be measured, the engag'in'g pin 25 is rotated clockwise and is variously positioned with respect to the xed disengagement pin 27 ori-the disk 28. As the pin 27 remains fixed the angle a, which is the angle between the engaging pin and the disengaging pin 27, is always proportional to the value of the quantity to be measured. Also arranged o'n the disk 36 is la stop member 45 Irunning parallel with the engaging pin 2S which serves to receive the lug 24 during the pivotal movement of the rocker arm thus reducing the impact of the pawl 1S on the ratchet The pawl carrier 14 is counter-balanced by a weight 46 and the pawl 1S is adapted to engage a ratchet jtedly' secured to the rotary shaft 48 which joins 'the ratchet 47 to a counter (not shown) that adds the partial integral values. The counter is therefor driven with the constant velocity of the synchronous motor during the period of engagement between the pawl i8 and the ratchet 47. Y

In Figure 2 the pawl 1S Vis shown disengaged from the ratchet 47 and the lug 24 is in front of the engaging pin 25. As the pawl carrier 14 continues to turn in t clockwise direction the lug 24 slides into contact with the pin 25. The latter cannot evade the lug 24 because the lap 39 on the end of lever 32 immediately bears against the periphery of the disk 4t?. As the lug 24 and the pawl 18 start to pivot the lug 24 engages the stop 45 and as the pawl carrier continues to turn lug 24 slides from the stop 45 and the pawl 18 passes gently into the' teeth of the ratchet 47. In Figure 3 the pawl carrieris shown after rotating through almost the entire angle vor and the lug 26 is just in front of the disengaging pin 27 When the pawl carrier continues to turn in the clockwise direction the pin 27 presses on the lug 26 and the pawl 18 is pivoted outwardly and engages the point 23 of the carrier 14.

It will be noted that, unlike prior constructions, the degree of coupling travel between the pawl and the ratchet is very much greater than 180. The present construction permits coupling fora period that approaches a full 360; the full 360 not quite being attainable due to the necessity of reserving a certain portion of the cycle to allow forV the pivoting of the pawl. In the form of the invention shown in the drawings the coupling period extends for approximately 330.

The apparatus is adapted to omit measuring the quantity should it fall below a certain value. To this end' the adjustable disk 40 is positioned so as to bring the recess 4l into a position relative to the disengaging pin 27 that corresponds to the value not to be recorded. Wherithe meter gear 44 rotates the disk 36 and engaging pin 2S to a position proportional to the minimum quantity the lap 39 of lever 32 lies over the recess 41 in disk 40. When the lug 24 engages the Vpin 25 the lap 39 is moved into the recess 41 and the pin 25 does not move the pawl l into engagement with the ratchet 47. The pawl carrier 14 then rotates a full cycle without any engagement between the pawl and ratchet. Adjustment of this non-engagement point is effected by means of the scale 42.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but depar-V tures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

I claim:

l. In a mechanical integrating instrument the combination of a pawl carrier rotating at a constant velocity, a movable pawl on the carrier, an adjustable disk, means for adjusting said disk in accordance with the instantaneous value of the quantity to be measured, a ratchet rotatably secured to a counter, and adjustable stop members for moving the pawl into and out of engagement with the ratchet, o'ne of said stop members being movable with the adjustable disk so `as to vary the period of engagement between the pawl `and ratchet, and means for pivoting said one stop member to a non-engaging position through aportion of the disks travel whereby engagement between the pawl and ratchet is avoided.

2. In a mechanical integrating instrument the combination as set forth in claim 1, in which said pawl is arranged on a rocker arm which is articulated to said rotating pawl carrier.

3. In a mechanical integrating instrument the combination as set forthY in claim 2, in which said rocker arm is' provided with two legs mounted in knife-edge bearings and each leg is provided with a lateral control lug, one lug serving for engaging and the' other for disengaging the pawl.

4. In a mechanical integrating instrument the cornbination as se't forth in claim l provided with a lever rotatably mounted on the rotatable disk, said lever having a pin for engaging the pawl, a lap which blocks or permits rotation of said lever, and a cam to control the operation of the lap.

5. In a mechanical integrating instrument the combination as set forth in claim 4, in which theV lever rotatably mounted on the rotatable disk is kept by an elastic force in such a direction as to be positioned with respect to' said lap in the range of integration with little play above the periphery of said cam.

6. In' a mechanical integrating instrument the'y combination as set forth inl claim 5, above the range of integration a circular periphery and a gap over the non-integration range 'and that the cam is rotatable and can be adjusted by means of a scale with respect to the integration zero point.

7. In a mechanical integrating' instrument the combination a`s set forth in claim 6, in which disk is provided with a stationary stop which catches the engaging pawl and which when the pawl carrier continues to turn allows the pawl to slide into the teeth ot the ratchet.

References Cited in the file of this patent A UNI-T ED STATES PATENTS 2,309,790 Ross Feb. 2'-, 1943 2,689,684 Laternser Sept. 21, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 662,464 Great Britain Dec. 5, 1951 in which said earn has l the rotatable v 

